No place like The Ruby Slipper

Walk past The Ruby Slipper on West Garland Avenue, check out the window display and you will probably be able to guess who operates the women’s shoe store.

Susan C. Bradley owns the Tinman Gallery at 811 W. Garland Ave. right next door to The Ruby Slipper. And the items displayed at The Ruby Slipper could perhaps be compared favorably to the exhibits at the neighboring art gallery in design and execution.

Bradley expanded her business interests on the busy avenue in December and stocked The Ruby Slipper with shoes unusual for and possibly unique to Spokane. The boutique celebrated its grand opening last month.

Bradley intends to attract fashion-forward women who know the value of craftsman-created footwear. The shop will stock shoes that have not been available in Spokane and will include handmade shoes from around the world.

Her inventory includes brands like Icon, which utilize dyed leather to replicate classical or modern art. Other featured brands are Giraudon, Espace, Morenatom, Castaner and Kaju.

While perhaps not in the designer category, Tsubo shoes are one example of eye-catching merchandise. Tsubo focuses on sneakers, and they come in unusual colors and distinctive styling.

According to the maker’s literature, tsubo is a Japanese word for pressure point and British designer Nick O’Rorke inserted sole-cushion bubbles at pressure points.

Handbags produced by Littlearth of Pennsylvania also catch the eye. One metal bag appears to be fashioned from a colorful auto license plate. Littlearth says its products are “handcrafted with a little bit of love and whole lot of soul” and that they are recycling the world’s pop culture.

The Ruby Slipper also offers tall, colorful snow boots and rubber rain boots by Staheekum.

A salesperson called the Littlearth handbags “fun” and another described the boots as “the coolest in town.”